Pat: “We showed too much respect”

Following City’s first round exit to QPR in the Capital One Cup, centre-half Pat Baldwin felt that the Grecians took a bit too long to get into gear and start matching up to the Hoops.

Exeter’s best spell of the match came around the hour mark, as City came close on a number of occasions of getting a goal and regaining a foothold in the game. By that point, however, City were trailing by two and when the opportunities weren’t taken, the game began to slip out of sight.

Pat was under no illusions of the difficulty that the task at hand was going to present against QPR’s international stars – so while the standoffishness of the first period was disappointing, he was pleased to see the City side take the game to Rangers after the interval.

Speaking to Fullsy post-match, Baldwin said: “We possibly showed QPR a bit too much respect. In the second half we started to step onto them a little bit better, we got onto the ball a bit more and the play started to spread.

“QPR have got quality players that cost millions of pounds – so there’s going to be a difference between us and them. So considering that, I thought we held our own, particularly in the second half.”

One of the factors that instigated the City rally was the introduction of Sam Parkin, who added a different dimension and a new threat to the Hoops’ rearguard. Baldwin was pleased to see the impact that the substitute made to the team.

“You can see the confidence running through Sam,” continued Baldwin. “He had a great game on Saturday and I thought when he came on that he won his fair share in the air and held the ball up, enabling us to squeeze the pitch a bit more and take the game to QPR a bit more.”

Click here to see Fullsy’s post-match interview with Pat Baldwin on Grecian Player.